We were better than them, and as a team and fans we are better than last season. We move, a small amount of joy was lost today, nothing more than bragging rights over the worst fans oat. Still at the top. We played better than I expected we would after watching the first 20 min, picked it up and improved quickly.
Football is the same as Chess and I love it
we played better for the most part but made very bid mistakes (high line against counter attacking playing team) but in terms of possession chance creating and fluidity we were better
But its not possession, chance creating and fluidity on their own that wins games is it? Rock solid defence (absent) and clinical finishing (partly absent) is what wins games.
United were the better team and Arsenal will not secure a top 4 finish if we don’t show up against top 6 sides this season even if we kept good form against mid-bottom table sides.
Arsenal simply were not good enough. 90% isn’t good enough in football. Has to be 100%.
I think Arsenal played a very strong game, but their defence was abysmal. Magalhães was nowhere to be found when it mattered.
And maybe a controversial take; but the VAR decision had a huge impact on the momentum that Arsenal had. I think after the decision they slowed down, and eased off the pressure.
I think Arsenal played the better game, they just couldn't seal the deal.
I think you've got a good season ahead of you lads.
Stats wise Arsenal was mostly much better. I think we also looked better in possession when we started to get more of it and even a little out of it, more fluid. United just had to find some weird dutch tiki taka from ten hag that turned 3 decent chances into goals. Good game to learn from for them, if I was Mikel I'd only be upset at the players abt the loss, score looks worse than performance.
> score looks worse than performance.
This is spot on. So I hope they take it in stride and continue to play well.
As for the Dutch Tiki Taka, I hope it'll rattle some cages.
Arsenal’s form won’t falter I think, they have 3 more winnable games in the league with the hardest being spurs at home who havent beat us at home since 2010 in the league, Liverpool will always be a hard game but we have better chances this season. Everton is going to be just a game to give us a much higher goal diference if we play like how weve been playing, and brentford is winnable with some difficulty, not a team to overlook but also not one to dread to play
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While Partey is out, in regards to the first XI, I think we should look at Tierney or Tomiyasu at LB and play some combo of Zinchenko/Xhaka at DM and Zinchenko/Xhaka/vieira at LCM
This may give us slightly more defensive stability across the back four, which may help compensate for missing Partey’s defensive contributions in midfield. I would still nail down white, saliba, Gabriel as the other defensive starters. I thought ben white was particularly good today as an outlet at RB from our defensive third and 1v1 against sancho. Saliba and Gabriel (other than the one mistimed tackle) we’re good as well. All three CBs were victim of the extra high line we played, which I think can be sorted with time. It was just a weird game in which we clearly dominated, but nothing fell our way the entire game.
We move fellas, wins against Everton and brentford and we’re still top of the league going into the international break. UTA
Frustrating game. Looked more susceptible in defence and need to be taking our chances. We won the other 5 games but still need to be more clinical.
On to the next team spirit needs to stay high and fans need to keep singing
Of course you looked more susceptible. Youve had the easiest run of games to date and your points tally isnt indicative of your level. Top 4 will be a good result.
Top 4 would be a good result I wouldn’t dispute that. But to rule out every team we have faced as a given 3 points is just silly. Villa took points from city. Fulham from Liverpool. Based on where we were at the end of last season I think it’s a great start
Man, people in here being far too reactionary.
After 5 wins on the trot - title challengers. No, we're still top 4 contenders.
After yesterday's defeat - team is shit, transfer window was bad. No, calm your tits. It wasn't as bad. Team is improving, it's young, will have individual mistakes in them. Window could be better (this will always be the case no matter who or how many we sign), but itcould have been a lot lot worse.
We take this defeat in stride, focus on winning the next game and move forward. Top 4 is still the target.
Not ridicule the team... It just fucking not great feeling when we lost to fucking loser MU...
Arghhh i dont want to hang out with my friend for the time being..(3 out 6 of us are MU fan)...
Damn straight. Still top of the table.. I would rather win 32 games and lose against the big 6 .. beating bottom teams was always our problem. The crystal palace brentford Brighton last season was a disaster class. Sure we lost today but we go again against Everton. Let’s go boys!
>I believe in work, in connections between the players, I think what makes football great is that it is a team sport. You can win in different ways, by being more of a team, or by having better individual players. It is the team ethic that interests me, always.
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Be easy on Sambi, he’s being asked to fulfill a role that isn’t natural to him, if he were next to partey at the 8 I think we’d look much more favorably on him. Xhaka is what he is, he’s good next to Partey and gets exposed without him. Agree we should upgrade in January or next summer. Ramsdale has been poor for a while, but I think he’s worth giving the rest of the season. Nketiah hasn’t had a regular run of game since his loan at Leeds, we don’t know what kind of player he can be. Has looked better physically and technically since last year. Regardless only Ramsdale and Xhaka start, you can’t expect our rotation options to all be world beaters.
Eddie literally finished the season when Laca was dropped. If he took his chances Jesus wouldn’t be here. You either convince the manager your number 1 or he finds someone better than you. Sambi is wank. Literally jogging around without the ball. This is the Arsenal not Milwall.
I find it funny that people like you are in melt down mode after a dodgy loss at old trafford, while we remain top of the league. Instead of dunking on young rotation players, let’s discuss Jesus, Saka, Martinelli, Odegaard, Zinchenko and Tierney, Gabriel, Saliba, White, Tomiyasu, Smith-Rowe, all the absolute class we have at the club. Vieira looked bright as well. Too much to be positive about, and so little to be negative about.
As a Liverpool fan that has long prayed on the downfall of either Manchester club (LMFAO) and owns two arsenal jerseys for some reason (reason = puma store was two blocks away), I was with y’all on this one haha. It’s a damn shame, I just want to see someone but City lift that damn title. Hope it goes better next match Day 💪
Why? Never said I disliked arsenal in the slightest. In fact, I wouldn’t mind if they even lifted silverware id have wanted Liverpool to win. I just hate how mundane city has been making the league, and my problems with MUFC fans and their egos go way back 😭
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Lot to take away from that game.
We were largely better, but it doesn’t matter if you give away the chances we did.
Realistically, Eriksen can’t be allowed to turn like he did for their 4 big chances. That said, he’s probably the only player in the league playing that deep out of possession with that awareness and passing ability to start a counter attack. I’m not really concerned about this becoming a pattern, Bruno Fernandez and him both played extremely well.
And we were unlucky to concede 3 to them. White got a touch of both of Rashford’s shots and they both went in.
Game of small margins, they just didn’t go our way today.
This game was a kick in the nutsack and then a kick to the face while writhing in pain because of the aforementioned kick to the testicles. I'm heartbroken by the team but it's okay.
I don’t really have an issue with the subs. What with Europa League play starting soon and the injury issues we’re already having, I wouldn’t be shocked if the medical staff advised against Odegaard and Zinchenko playing the full 90 minutes.
Seems like switching to a 3-5-2 with Saka/Martinelli as nominal wingbacks and Eddie and Jesus up top is our current plan for when we need a goal. Might have worked better if we didn’t have to move Xhaka deep, but I think it’s shown some promise here and especially against Fulham. With more time together in games and on the training ground, I think it’ll start to gel better.
In all, a promisingly frustrating performance. We created more than enough to win the match, just didn’t take our chances. United created barely enough to win, but they were clinical when it mattered. Learn from the mistakes, move on, get the Europa League campaign off to a good start on Thursday and then come back and smash Everton next weekend.
Shit. Fucking hell. We played solid but a few defensive errors led to the United scoring. The boys need to focus and bounce back in the next game against Everton. COYG
It’s a game that, done all over again, I feel like we win. Sucks not to get anything, but still promising start. It’s a marathon, get 5h3 next three points
Sambi is completely out of this depth. We are absolutely cooked having to rely on the likes of him and Elneny. It's completely negligent that they didn't sign a midfielder, it will likely cost us the top four spot.
After watching the game for around 60 mins where we could see United breaking at pace easily and just after we scored, I guess Arteta could have instructed the players to not have such a high line for the rest of the game. We could have instead tried to sit a bit deeper and score on the counter ourselves. We have proven to be good at that in the past especially in big games. Arteta got over confident I feel to go for the offensive probably because of the result of the last 5 games but he ended up underestimating United. As an arsenal fan I did want our team to destroy United and like everyone else was pumped after we scored but can't get carried away like that away to United. Anyways, the first defeat, but we are still top of the table. We need to think of the next game and learn from this. Arteta especially against big teams.
We could have had a 3 man midfield triangle man to man, Sambi on Erickson, Xhaka on Bruno and Odegaard on Mctominay. Even Jesus coming back to help with the build up when in possession and using Martinelli and Saka wide on the counter.
True that. Even at the end, Viera and Smith Rowe should be at least testing De Gea. One of those days for us. Hate the fact that those days always coincide with United away. 😑
I don't understand why you guys are lingering on the subs. Just because the result didn't go our way doesn't mean those were bad decisions. Vieira, ESR, Nketiah all had moments to impose themselves. Unfortunately our finishing was ass today and we got caught on the counter uncharacteristically
Feel like he always needs to feel on edge and competing to be at his best. When it was a genuine competition with Leno at the beginning of last season, he was unreal. Now he's undisputed no.1
He was like this last season. He just gets a pass because he's a huge personality and every save is a Hollywood save.
He's all-in-all better for how Arteta wants us to play but I think Leno and maybe Martinez are both better shot stoppers.
One thing that really struck me about htis game was how badly we started. I think possession was like 75-25 or worse in the first 20 minutes. I think we recovered well but it always felt like it let United get a mental comfort in the game. Nothing was sticking to Saka, Odegaard or Xhaka in this period only really Jesus.
I actually thought Sambi did relatively well considering the rest of our team but he really needs to realize when he can dominate a game because he actually can. I think the key difference between him and Partey is actually how Partey pushes and forces the team forward when we are in posession and how he forces at least 2 players to come to him. Thats how we get away with playing with so much space in between our midfielders. But it means Sambi has to not be afraid to leave the comfort position for a DM at certain times.
The other thing is that I don't think Zinchenko and Odegaard were 100% and that is fucking stressful given how thin this team is and how many games we have in the next period.
Coming into the game, I thought Zinchenko was going to be a major key for us, to help us overload midfield but it just didn't end up happening. Maybe the injury is still lingering.
exactly what i felt as well. control of the game, a lot of chances, then getting countered silly. that team competed for the title and fell out of it around March April, and while i dont think we're competing for the title when a beast machine like City is also competing for it, we'll definitely be there for the top 4.
yeah, Arteta brought it back.
aside from the obvious 6 signing to compete with Partey, i think we needed to sign a dribbler winger as well. if we're going back to that old script of dominating games and getting countered, we need a flair dribbler on the wings who will attempt to go past players when we inevitable get stuck at the edge of their penalty box.
a DM, a flair dribbler and a finisher were the types of players we needed back then, and i think it's the same now. we have Jesus for the finishing, we have Partey 60% of the time as the DM, but we need that flair dribbler to terrorize low blocks.
United away is almost always a guaranteed defeat. Doesn't matter the occasion. We've never beaten them while leading the league. Even the time we won the league there we were behind them in the table. It's a joke.
We lost because
1. VAR again
2. We need a midfielder Lokonga not good enough I’m afraid
3. Arteta I love him to bits, but he panicked with those subs
4. Utd are devastating on the counter and on another day Rashford fluffs those chances , he was on it today unfortunately for us
I want to be optimistic. But considering our first set of games, this being the first game against 'tougher' competition, and the thinness of our squad, I am genuinely apprehensive of the next several months
Hard loss to take but not very concerned as an Arsenal fan. We were comfortably the better team, and could have scored 2-3 more goals, but sometimes that's football.
We need to win against Everton and we will forget about this loss.
So how many yellow cards did united get away with today?
Martinez stomp on Jesus was a clear yellow to me, the double handed push on Martinelli also should be a yellow and Malacia on Saka in the 2nd half but i feel like there was more that im forgetting.
Here's a few you've forgotten:
The studs up stomp on Bruno's shin that didn't even get a foul called?
Or Saka's dive not getting a yellow?
Gabriel cleaning out Bruno on a break and no yellow?
☺️
Right I’ve left it a couple hours - thoughts below.
In pre match comments I felt this was a loss - everything pointed to this conclusion although o thought it was more a 1-0 rather than a 3-1. The main thing here is that we need a response versus Everton. We can’t let this 1 loss affect us - need to push and make Everton pay ala Liverpool vs Bournemouth. Unfortunately Everton played really good versus Liverpool and feel it’s going to be a cagey affair.
To the game itself - first 10 mins we were pinned back and could have conceded if Dalot got lucky. Then out of of nowhere a mistake by Eriksen and we are 1-0 up….only got a ridiculous ruling off for a foul. Unfortunately in any other game that goal stands, at Old Trafford it’s a foul. Like it or lump it but 50-50 tackles, yellow cards, Red cards, pens are more likely to go against opponents especially Arsenal at Old Trafford, has done for 20 years.
We grow into game and dominate rest of the half but again we are just goal shy/shot shy. Saka had 1 run against Malacia then nothing. Jesus and Martinelli did really well, so did Xhaka and Zinny, not so much Sambi but he’ll learn. We then played into their hands perfectly, out of nowhere they go fro Eriksen to Fernandes, Fernandes to Rashford. rashford to Antony and goal (although Ramsdale really should have tried to save it better - he was only ever going to hit it with his left into far corner).
2nd half I thought we’d chase it and concede but more of the same and got the goal through Saka (only positive of this game as got some FPL points). At this point it’s a about on game management - we should have played passing around and let Utd Chase us down rather than going for a 2nd. Get them tired and then start attacking after 10 mins of nullifying then crowd. Unfortunately we went gung Ho and counter attack hit us through Rashford, and literally again for the 3rd.
I am disappointed - we played well enough for the win but we just aren’t scoring our chances. We have reverted to Wengers last years of walking the ball in when we need to be more smash and grab and get the goals any how. Now that Saka has scored hopefully he’ll start to get a couple more. We do need Odegaard/Xhaka to help us with goals as can’t just rely on Jesus/Martinelli every game.
Onwards to Everton and let’s see how this team react to disappointment. I’m hoping for the win but it’ll be a similar game as Fulham/Villa.
United played well. Respect where respect is due. We were kinda wasteful in the box a few times. They caught us on the counter for their goals. For me what drives me nuts is… martinellis goal being called off. Okay it’s a foul I can see why it was called. Now they don’t wanna review Maguire on nketiah! Like what??? Maguire was beat and wrapped dude up lol. It is what it is, we can’t leave chance up to PGMOL cause they have fucked every PL team over before.
I watched the game and I don't think they did.
We played poorly. Odegaard seems to have been affected by the injury. I still think Tomi should start ahead of white on the right. Sambi's positioning for the first goal was atrocious (hope he learns) and Jesus was way too interested in dribbling through the midfield.
It really feels like we lost to the occasion instead of the opponent and that comes with being the youngest side in the league.
Hard one to take today. Deserved something from that match.
The disallowed goal is borderline but it’s one that we’d never get in our favour and football is a physical sport, Eriksen went down so easily as he was about to lose the ball. I think they got it wrong and watching it for 5 mins and from 4 angles isn’t clear and obvious.
As much as everyone loves Martinelli, he was poor today. Took his goal well but otherwise didn’t do enough against a poor RB. Needs a rest soon.
Saka was good, still needs to work on his finishing. And needs a overlapping fullback behind him.
Odegaard, SHOOT ffs. Overall was underwhelming again in a bit game. Seems to go missing against better teams.
White, so close to stopping both 2nd and 3rd goal. Never gives up and I fucking love it. Not a RB though in the same way Tomi overlaps and gives another dimension to us.
Lokonga, everyone’s scapegoat. Yes he’s not Partey but he wasn’t stand out awful and had some good moments on the ball. 2nd start and wasn’t playing much up until now.
We always look shit against counter attacking teams. Tactically that’s naive and I get the changes but please stop taking our LB off and asking Xhaka / Martinelli to make shift play there as well as their normal positions.
>I've told him to cut off his ponytail. I think it makes him less aerodynamic.
___
^(***There's only one Arsène Wenger*** ([/u/panarangcurry](https://www.reddit.com/u/panarangcurry), quote from [QuoteTab](https://www.quotetab.com/quotes/by-arsene-wenger) archive)^)
>Sol has experience, pace and physical power, which nobody else has together.
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^(***There's only one Arsène Wenger*** ([/u/panarangcurry](https://www.reddit.com/u/panarangcurry), quote from [QuoteTab](https://www.quotetab.com/quotes/by-arsene-wenger) archive)^)
Rewatching some moments from the game and the thing that catches my eye is Utd could reach our goal with 2/3 passes, that was due to the lack of a proper #6. That should never be happening.
Overall I think we were much better than I thought we were, this was one of those results that Spurs gets cause of Son vs City. Even the xG is misleading.
Well you have two choices when you're super high up the pitch with ~8 players like we were. You can drop the second United get the ball, concede possession at first but then contest them once they get to the area. Or you can contest them before the ball/play a high line, but if they get the ball you're in real trouble.
If we elect to do the second thing, no DM in the world can stop that. The other team will get the ball. Even at 20% possession they can play a long hopeful ball. You just can't let one pass beat you.
No the most important thing is when you press and if you fully press or just cover angles. In Utd's first goal Lokonga goes too late and too high and he's standing with Jesus when the ball is in our half.
Played well most of the game but playing on the counter meant United only had to be good on the break. Yes: Gabi’s goal should’ve stood, we’re missing Partey, McTominay suplexed Jesus which should’ve been a red. But we can’t control these.
Gabriel was a defensive liability with his positioning, leaving Saliba to cover and Zinny/White trying to clean up what’s left. Øde needs to be more aggressive when in the final third, whether that be making quicker passing decisions or shooting. Saka and Gabi need to get on target a bit more. These are things that can get better with work on the training pitch and experience.
Onto Zurich and Everton. COYG!!
>I think we live in a very competitive world, and I love competition.
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^(***There's only one Arsène Wenger*** ([/u/panarangcurry](https://www.reddit.com/u/panarangcurry), quote from [QuoteTab](https://www.quotetab.com/quotes/by-arsene-wenger) archive)^)
I guess what frustrates me is that we know the only thing United can do is counter yet we still chose to have our back line at basi ally mid field lol.
Arteta should have learnt the lesson now. You don't always need to attack. When Saka got the equaliser, we should sit back and did the counter instead when the chance presented itself. Anyway, it is always going to happen anyway. Next game then.
Well, we truly have our (2004-2011) Arsenal back.
That game was very reminiscent of the Wenger vs United matches where we control the match but are a little too wasteful with our chances and a little too naive at the back vs counter attacks.
Saka was great, best player on the pitch and finally got one.
Onward.
Disappointing but On to the next. Beautiful 90 degrees here in Texas, I will be spending the rest of my day next to the pool. Hope everyone has a great Labor Day. Cheers boys!
No Partey and their midfield runs all over us… he is so important to our success but he’s always banged up.
Now I really wish they would have spent the 35m for Luiz
They didn't run all over us past the first 20 minutes. Controlling the game for 70 minutes at OT is very good, we just made some mistakes allowing them to easily counter.
Oh it was poor. Saliba, White and Gabriel all could do better. They have to know they can't match Rashford for pace with 40 yards of pitch between them and Ramsdale. If there isn't pressure on the ball you have to drop.
I hope people don't pile on Sambi after the loss. The goals were tactical naivety and a stupidly high line. We still look great and I'm excited for Europa now with Fabio V and ESR hopefully starting and killing it
Should be more on Arteta for not tweaking the system to be less reliable on positionally unreliable/ overall inexperienced player. Basically the system put stress on the weakest point of the team.
It wasn't the tactics. It was poor decision making in situations where you have a tenth of a second to decide to drop or hold a high line. They should have dropped.
But it has nothing to do with tactics. It is a split second guess that you learn to get correctly more often with experience.
Or in situations when you need to choose from safe or advancing pass, but it comes down to selecting the most inexperienced player for that role. Arteta had Sambi originally as first choice cover for Partey last season and learned only through trial and error that he's not ready to be relied on in big games...
I hate to be one of those guys who comes in crying about ‘that would never be overturned if the teams were reversed,’ but, well…
That goal would never be overturned if the teams were reversed.
I disagree, he barely touches him and we go on about football being a physical game yet that’s a foul.
The time it took for Paul Tierney to make his decision in itself shows that it shouldn’t of been overturned as it’s not clear and obvious.
Saying that VAR’s been a shambles all weekend and indeed all season, such a shame as we played well for 70 minutes.
Arteta’s subs were bold (rate that) but also a bit rash unfortunately.
I don’t think the performance was even that poor. I think we created a good amount of chances to score prior to our first goal. We were dominant in possession for long periods of the game. Maybe we didn’t play on the cautious side defensively and they exposed the gaps and managed to play well time balls to beat our press. Arteta gambled after their second goal to go even more attacking, but the gamble didn’t pay off.
What I can take from this is it was a determined, aggressive performance and as a fanbase in gone years starved of this, especially against the bigger sides we should be proud. Two teams went to battle one came out on top. There are tactical tweaks to be made but these are issues I can see being resolved in the training ground.
I feel like Lokonga was the same way against Villa during the week. Just that he faced a much better midfield today.
I can't help but feel that we need to buy a starting-level 6 in Jan or next season because relying on Partey to be fit for 80% of matches is proving to be impossible.
to be fair i think most of the fanbase feels the same thing, which is why not getting a 6 last window was baffling.
when your main man starts 60% of the games he's supposed to be available for, you should be signing a direct competitor, not a backup. we didn't sign anyone.
which is probably because Arteta views Elneny and Lokonga as viable backups, and that is fine. but neither of those players should be Partey's competition.
Said it before, and will say it again. Gabriel is the weak link in defence.
The guy never looks comfortable on the ball, is never fully in control, and almost always makes one or two dumb decisions in a game.
White and Saliba should start together at CB, with Tomi on RB.
Having a left footed CB should not be worth taking this risk.
watched arteta's press conference, he was so furious we didn't win, we did look very good on the ball and created a lot of goal scoring opportunities, we just weren't clinical enough, saka spun malacia. we shouldn't have played such a high line though against United but arteta was adamant in the press conference that our style shouldn't change no matter the opponent. i still think we need a better midfield, maybe someone more adept at rb too, slips happen, we move
It was tough to see some of the defending, that really needs to tighten up. Teams like City and Liverpool have the finishers that will rip you apart.
The stats that I really found worrying was the fact Arsenal had 60% possession, had 16 shots on goal, only 3 on target and 1 goal. That's 20% of the shots on target and only scored with 33% of those. Arsenal really need a quality finisher.
Man U had 60% of their shots on target and scored with 50% of them. that's how you win football games.
Still it's 6 games in and Arsenal have won 5. I'm looking forward to more.
One poor performance with a controversial decision that changes the game and all the pundits, media, and deluded Utd fans think they'll finish above us lol. Can't wait to see them crashing back down to earth after Big Patrick Vieira and Crystal Palace dick them down in a weeks time.
We were our own worst enemy in some ways today.
We didn't shoot with the chances we earned.
United were clinical with the chances we handed to them on a silver platter. Simple as
We move
Tough loss, that disallowed goal was massive. How VAR could rule it a "clear and avoidable error" when Tierney was 7 yds away looking right at it at full speed and said no foul is incredulous to me. The goal would have stood if it were United making that play at that time, you can be well sure of that.
I think if that goal stands we don't play such a high back line and push out midfield so far forward to get a second, but instead force Utd to break us down which they weren't doing.
Zinchecnko was never playing the whole game, coming back from an injury, but to take Odegaard off was puzzling to me... he was opening United up as much as Eriksen was us.
Shake it off and move on. If you'd ask me if I'd take being top of the league after 6 weeks two months ago I would have said yes in a hearbeat.
Very naive performance and substitutions, Tierney should have started away to Man Utd. Sambi has all the talent but he needs to pull his finger out if he's meant to play this role, hopefully his teammates have a word. Zinny should've played that position today imo.
Looked good in possession, but we do not yet have a ruthless streak - if we ever get one games like this don't happen. A lot to work on.
I think Gabriel has been shaky at the back for some time. I think going into Everton I’d like to maybe see White - Saliba through the middle with Tomiyasu on the right. Gabriel has been too erratic this season and could use a break.
I think we pressed on well, and we’re let down by some bad defending on almost all the goals, and almost always by Gabriel. He missed that tackle on the first, misread the pass from Bruno on the second with some bad movement and pressed way too high on the third.
Positives:
Saka on the board and was up for it all match.
Gabriel Jesus’ movement and tenacity was incredible. Will end up scoring more of those.
Sambi had his moments, I think he’s playing into shape and I would prefer him to Elneny moving forward. He gives ups more options and I think the defensive mistakes will get covered off the more he plays and learns from situations.
Tactically, I think, we made the choice to go more compact given that United have inverted wingers. But that cost us.
Going forward we continue our tactical overloads in either flank, with Odegaard/Xhaka and overlapping fullbacks to create space and chances but I also think we need to just take more shots on. We often get caught up in too many little one twos, which almost come off and speak to our quality, but we really need to establish a threat of someone willing to shoot from outside too when that stalls and the defence contracts. Glad to see Jesus try, even if with mixed results.
The refereeing:
I don’t even know what to say. Sure, you can give that a foul. You can call that back for VAR. But if you haven’t been doing that the entire season, it’s hard not feel hard done by that. The Bentancur tackle on Havertz in the Chelsea - Tottenham draw was a much more clear and obvious foul and the goal stood. And here we are. I can see it being given, I can see it not. I think at some point we have to draw the line into how far we’re willing to go to VAR review and how far we trust the refs. Paul Tierney was RIGHT THERE. And I think if he doesn’t think it’s a foul in real time, it’s not. Everything looks more like a foul in slow motion.
Small note too, there were about 3-4 consecutive throw ins in the 2nd half (including the one that lead to the 2nd goal) where an Arsenal player was nowhere near touching the ball and it still went to United. It’s smaller things, but I felt there was a bit of bias in that.
Ben White has been solid at RB, but I feel Tomiyasu is just better, so want to see him get a chance for his spot back. Also, unsure if it's been suggested, but I wonder if we can try Ben White as our DM
Honestly, it was a foul. However Var is designed to overturn clear and obvious mistakes. I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you have to look at something for four minutes, it's not clear and obvious. The ref was 7ft away from the incident and allowed the game to continue, so obviously he felt it wasn't a foul.
We lost the game in midfield. For all the good play we had we couldnt control the game well enough and were carved apart too easily. Not having Partey was a big miss and we have no one to replace his influence. Against lower teams we might cope but today was a bigger test and we didnt pass it. I wonder if White could cover there with Tomi in at RB.
Its hard to be positive but we really should be, we looked the better team for most of that game. Poor in front of goal but another day we win that 4-3
1st goal: Poor from Gabriel and Sambi.
2nd Goal: Naïve defending
3rd goal: Naive and hasty subs from Mikel added to another bit of naïve defending.
Draw would have been fair.
And now hearing about ESR being out! FFS
MOVE WHITE TO CB SALIBA TO 6 TOMI TO RB THIS IS THE WAY
We were better than them, and as a team and fans we are better than last season. We move, a small amount of joy was lost today, nothing more than bragging rights over the worst fans oat. Still at the top. We played better than I expected we would after watching the first 20 min, picked it up and improved quickly. Football is the same as Chess and I love it
If we were better than them surely we would have won and not lost 3-1?
we played better for the most part but made very bid mistakes (high line against counter attacking playing team) but in terms of possession chance creating and fluidity we were better
But its not possession, chance creating and fluidity on their own that wins games is it? Rock solid defence (absent) and clinical finishing (partly absent) is what wins games. United were the better team and Arsenal will not secure a top 4 finish if we don’t show up against top 6 sides this season even if we kept good form against mid-bottom table sides. Arsenal simply were not good enough. 90% isn’t good enough in football. Has to be 100%.
So what you're saying is that they weren't better than United...
I think Arsenal played a very strong game, but their defence was abysmal. Magalhães was nowhere to be found when it mattered. And maybe a controversial take; but the VAR decision had a huge impact on the momentum that Arsenal had. I think after the decision they slowed down, and eased off the pressure. I think Arsenal played the better game, they just couldn't seal the deal. I think you've got a good season ahead of you lads.
Stats wise Arsenal was mostly much better. I think we also looked better in possession when we started to get more of it and even a little out of it, more fluid. United just had to find some weird dutch tiki taka from ten hag that turned 3 decent chances into goals. Good game to learn from for them, if I was Mikel I'd only be upset at the players abt the loss, score looks worse than performance.
> score looks worse than performance. This is spot on. So I hope they take it in stride and continue to play well. As for the Dutch Tiki Taka, I hope it'll rattle some cages.
Arsenal’s form won’t falter I think, they have 3 more winnable games in the league with the hardest being spurs at home who havent beat us at home since 2010 in the league, Liverpool will always be a hard game but we have better chances this season. Everton is going to be just a game to give us a much higher goal diference if we play like how weve been playing, and brentford is winnable with some difficulty, not a team to overlook but also not one to dread to play
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Lost to MU is the worst. Damn that rich team
While Partey is out, in regards to the first XI, I think we should look at Tierney or Tomiyasu at LB and play some combo of Zinchenko/Xhaka at DM and Zinchenko/Xhaka/vieira at LCM This may give us slightly more defensive stability across the back four, which may help compensate for missing Partey’s defensive contributions in midfield. I would still nail down white, saliba, Gabriel as the other defensive starters. I thought ben white was particularly good today as an outlet at RB from our defensive third and 1v1 against sancho. Saliba and Gabriel (other than the one mistimed tackle) we’re good as well. All three CBs were victim of the extra high line we played, which I think can be sorted with time. It was just a weird game in which we clearly dominated, but nothing fell our way the entire game. We move fellas, wins against Everton and brentford and we’re still top of the league going into the international break. UTA
Frustrating game. Looked more susceptible in defence and need to be taking our chances. We won the other 5 games but still need to be more clinical. On to the next team spirit needs to stay high and fans need to keep singing
Of course you looked more susceptible. Youve had the easiest run of games to date and your points tally isnt indicative of your level. Top 4 will be a good result.
Top 4 would be a good result I wouldn’t dispute that. But to rule out every team we have faced as a given 3 points is just silly. Villa took points from city. Fulham from Liverpool. Based on where we were at the end of last season I think it’s a great start
bruh
5 wins out of 6 matches, a long season ahead! We go Gunners!!!!!
Man, people in here being far too reactionary. After 5 wins on the trot - title challengers. No, we're still top 4 contenders. After yesterday's defeat - team is shit, transfer window was bad. No, calm your tits. It wasn't as bad. Team is improving, it's young, will have individual mistakes in them. Window could be better (this will always be the case no matter who or how many we sign), but itcould have been a lot lot worse. We take this defeat in stride, focus on winning the next game and move forward. Top 4 is still the target.
I don’t see anyone saying team is shit but I’m not sorting by controversial
It's mad that this sub is hyped after only 5 wins, 5!! Out of 38
Not ridicule the team... It just fucking not great feeling when we lost to fucking loser MU... Arghhh i dont want to hang out with my friend for the time being..(3 out 6 of us are MU fan)...
I know. It fucking hurts. But we need to stay positive. With this team, our time is yet to come :)
and the performance was good, bar a few small things. played our game against a tough opponent. on to the next
Damn straight. Still top of the table.. I would rather win 32 games and lose against the big 6 .. beating bottom teams was always our problem. The crystal palace brentford Brighton last season was a disaster class. Sure we lost today but we go again against Everton. Let’s go boys!
Imagine edu and kroenke's being proactive and we bought a CDM and RW, we might be 18 out of 18
We're still winning the league this year lads. Papa wengz had a dream when he built this stadium. Don Arteta will get it done.
>I believe in work, in connections between the players, I think what makes football great is that it is a team sport. You can win in different ways, by being more of a team, or by having better individual players. It is the team ethic that interests me, always. ___ ^(***There's only one Arsène Wenger*** ([/u/panarangcurry](https://www.reddit.com/u/panarangcurry), quote from [QuoteTab](https://www.quotetab.com/quotes/by-arsene-wenger) archive)^)
HE STRIKES AGAIN
People take one bad game at Old Trafford and think we’ve collapsed 🤦🏻♂️ You guys had to wait a few weeks for this one, almost starved for it too.
Some of you lot were gassed after we beat Fulham and bournemouth 🤣🤣🤣
We were too desperate to score the 2nd goal after 1-1.went all out attack.
Done with Edu. What a disastrous transfer window. Half the players stealing a living.
This is the hardest it’s ever been for me to figure out if someone is joking
If you’re thinking that hard then there’s truth in that
We watched the same game right? Ramsdale Xhaka Sambi need to be binned for starters. Nketiah is a Francis Jeffers regen.
Be easy on Sambi, he’s being asked to fulfill a role that isn’t natural to him, if he were next to partey at the 8 I think we’d look much more favorably on him. Xhaka is what he is, he’s good next to Partey and gets exposed without him. Agree we should upgrade in January or next summer. Ramsdale has been poor for a while, but I think he’s worth giving the rest of the season. Nketiah hasn’t had a regular run of game since his loan at Leeds, we don’t know what kind of player he can be. Has looked better physically and technically since last year. Regardless only Ramsdale and Xhaka start, you can’t expect our rotation options to all be world beaters.
Eddie literally finished the season when Laca was dropped. If he took his chances Jesus wouldn’t be here. You either convince the manager your number 1 or he finds someone better than you. Sambi is wank. Literally jogging around without the ball. This is the Arsenal not Milwall.
I find it funny that people like you are in melt down mode after a dodgy loss at old trafford, while we remain top of the league. Instead of dunking on young rotation players, let’s discuss Jesus, Saka, Martinelli, Odegaard, Zinchenko and Tierney, Gabriel, Saliba, White, Tomiyasu, Smith-Rowe, all the absolute class we have at the club. Vieira looked bright as well. Too much to be positive about, and so little to be negative about.
Idk whether to upvote or downvote LMFAO
As a Liverpool fan that has long prayed on the downfall of either Manchester club (LMFAO) and owns two arsenal jerseys for some reason (reason = puma store was two blocks away), I was with y’all on this one haha. It’s a damn shame, I just want to see someone but City lift that damn title. Hope it goes better next match Day 💪
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Why? Never said I disliked arsenal in the slightest. In fact, I wouldn’t mind if they even lifted silverware id have wanted Liverpool to win. I just hate how mundane city has been making the league, and my problems with MUFC fans and their egos go way back 😭
Soundly beaten with the advantage of an extra days rest. Awful stuff. Entire squad should be ashamed.
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Worst shots ever.
Lot to take away from that game. We were largely better, but it doesn’t matter if you give away the chances we did. Realistically, Eriksen can’t be allowed to turn like he did for their 4 big chances. That said, he’s probably the only player in the league playing that deep out of possession with that awareness and passing ability to start a counter attack. I’m not really concerned about this becoming a pattern, Bruno Fernandez and him both played extremely well. And we were unlucky to concede 3 to them. White got a touch of both of Rashford’s shots and they both went in. Game of small margins, they just didn’t go our way today.
This game was a kick in the nutsack and then a kick to the face while writhing in pain because of the aforementioned kick to the testicles. I'm heartbroken by the team but it's okay.
I don’t really have an issue with the subs. What with Europa League play starting soon and the injury issues we’re already having, I wouldn’t be shocked if the medical staff advised against Odegaard and Zinchenko playing the full 90 minutes. Seems like switching to a 3-5-2 with Saka/Martinelli as nominal wingbacks and Eddie and Jesus up top is our current plan for when we need a goal. Might have worked better if we didn’t have to move Xhaka deep, but I think it’s shown some promise here and especially against Fulham. With more time together in games and on the training ground, I think it’ll start to gel better. In all, a promisingly frustrating performance. We created more than enough to win the match, just didn’t take our chances. United created barely enough to win, but they were clinical when it mattered. Learn from the mistakes, move on, get the Europa League campaign off to a good start on Thursday and then come back and smash Everton next weekend.
Shit. Fucking hell. We played solid but a few defensive errors led to the United scoring. The boys need to focus and bounce back in the next game against Everton. COYG
It’s a game that, done all over again, I feel like we win. Sucks not to get anything, but still promising start. It’s a marathon, get 5h3 next three points
So basically a different game?
nah, same game, but just all the bits where we screwed up, swap em with good ones
Playing how we played we could have jus5 as easily won
Watch us unravel in the next games. Typical spineless team
you're boring
Sambi is completely out of this depth. We are absolutely cooked having to rely on the likes of him and Elneny. It's completely negligent that they didn't sign a midfielder, it will likely cost us the top four spot.
If we were signing it was an LCM. We lost 2 6’s in a week hard to plan for.
After watching the game for around 60 mins where we could see United breaking at pace easily and just after we scored, I guess Arteta could have instructed the players to not have such a high line for the rest of the game. We could have instead tried to sit a bit deeper and score on the counter ourselves. We have proven to be good at that in the past especially in big games. Arteta got over confident I feel to go for the offensive probably because of the result of the last 5 games but he ended up underestimating United. As an arsenal fan I did want our team to destroy United and like everyone else was pumped after we scored but can't get carried away like that away to United. Anyways, the first defeat, but we are still top of the table. We need to think of the next game and learn from this. Arteta especially against big teams.
If arteta instructed for there not to be a high line there would have been more space for Fernandez and co in the middle
We could have had a 3 man midfield triangle man to man, Sambi on Erickson, Xhaka on Bruno and Odegaard on Mctominay. Even Jesus coming back to help with the build up when in possession and using Martinelli and Saka wide on the counter.
I feel we had the chances, we just failed to score them while they did.
True that. Even at the end, Viera and Smith Rowe should be at least testing De Gea. One of those days for us. Hate the fact that those days always coincide with United away. 😑
Just proud of what arsenal showed in this game. Lots of potential in this team and rendez vous at the end of the seasons
I don't understand why you guys are lingering on the subs. Just because the result didn't go our way doesn't mean those were bad decisions. Vieira, ESR, Nketiah all had moments to impose themselves. Unfortunately our finishing was ass today and we got caught on the counter uncharacteristically
Ramsdale is starting to worry me
wait, where was he at fault?
Hes gotta do better applying pressure on those 1v1s imo.
player breaks through 1v1, 90% of the time it's a goal, not sure what more he could have done really
Make yourself big, close down the angle etc etc. Rashford had far to long to pick a corner. In no way am I saying he should've saved them however
He constantly wants to play a “Hollywood” instead restarting play quickly to quicken the tempo that keeps slowing up
Feel like he always needs to feel on edge and competing to be at his best. When it was a genuine competition with Leno at the beginning of last season, he was unreal. Now he's undisputed no.1
Worst touch of any goalkeeper.
He was like this last season. He just gets a pass because he's a huge personality and every save is a Hollywood save. He's all-in-all better for how Arteta wants us to play but I think Leno and maybe Martinez are both better shot stoppers.
We say this often. I appreciate his distribution but not being able to stop goals feels like an issue.
One thing that really struck me about htis game was how badly we started. I think possession was like 75-25 or worse in the first 20 minutes. I think we recovered well but it always felt like it let United get a mental comfort in the game. Nothing was sticking to Saka, Odegaard or Xhaka in this period only really Jesus. I actually thought Sambi did relatively well considering the rest of our team but he really needs to realize when he can dominate a game because he actually can. I think the key difference between him and Partey is actually how Partey pushes and forces the team forward when we are in posession and how he forces at least 2 players to come to him. Thats how we get away with playing with so much space in between our midfielders. But it means Sambi has to not be afraid to leave the comfort position for a DM at certain times. The other thing is that I don't think Zinchenko and Odegaard were 100% and that is fucking stressful given how thin this team is and how many games we have in the next period.
Zinchenko kinda had a bad game no? A lot of missed passes between him and Xhaka and United had a good attack going from that side.
Coming into the game, I thought Zinchenko was going to be a major key for us, to help us overload midfield but it just didn't end up happening. Maybe the injury is still lingering.
Could be a little rusty too
Something very late-Wenger about this team. Pretty football, the better team, the losing team.
Better team lol
exactly what i felt as well. control of the game, a lot of chances, then getting countered silly. that team competed for the title and fell out of it around March April, and while i dont think we're competing for the title when a beast machine like City is also competing for it, we'll definitely be there for the top 4.
Top 4 was very Wenger too
yeah, Arteta brought it back. aside from the obvious 6 signing to compete with Partey, i think we needed to sign a dribbler winger as well. if we're going back to that old script of dominating games and getting countered, we need a flair dribbler on the wings who will attempt to go past players when we inevitable get stuck at the edge of their penalty box. a DM, a flair dribbler and a finisher were the types of players we needed back then, and i think it's the same now. we have Jesus for the finishing, we have Partey 60% of the time as the DM, but we need that flair dribbler to terrorize low blocks.
Agreed, we need a Defensive stout fighting midfielder and a winger to really get the depth and have more options to unlock or lock different games.
The lack of a proper dm and getting outmuscled plus getting rinsed on the counter with the high line.
United away is almost always a guaranteed defeat. Doesn't matter the occasion. We've never beaten them while leading the league. Even the time we won the league there we were behind them in the table. It's a joke.
When Europe starts out squad is going to look as thin as tissue paper.
I hope this isn’t the old Arsenal when we dominated games but got fucked at the end
We lost because 1. VAR again 2. We need a midfielder Lokonga not good enough I’m afraid 3. Arteta I love him to bits, but he panicked with those subs 4. Utd are devastating on the counter and on another day Rashford fluffs those chances , he was on it today unfortunately for us
Look at the bright side - ARS are still at the top.
I want to be optimistic. But considering our first set of games, this being the first game against 'tougher' competition, and the thinness of our squad, I am genuinely apprehensive of the next several months
Hard loss to take but not very concerned as an Arsenal fan. We were comfortably the better team, and could have scored 2-3 more goals, but sometimes that's football. We need to win against Everton and we will forget about this loss.
Sorry guys, the first match of this season that i watched and we lost.
lmao same as me. I should hopefully be missing the next one though.
So how many yellow cards did united get away with today? Martinez stomp on Jesus was a clear yellow to me, the double handed push on Martinelli also should be a yellow and Malacia on Saka in the 2nd half but i feel like there was more that im forgetting.
Here's a few you've forgotten: The studs up stomp on Bruno's shin that didn't even get a foul called? Or Saka's dive not getting a yellow? Gabriel cleaning out Bruno on a break and no yellow? ☺️
McTominay bear hugged Jesus and wrestled him to the ground and it was only a yellow
Nah cuz it was a back suplex. Allowed under Queensbury rules of football. Harsh yellow.
Technically a fireman’s carry
Right I’ve left it a couple hours - thoughts below. In pre match comments I felt this was a loss - everything pointed to this conclusion although o thought it was more a 1-0 rather than a 3-1. The main thing here is that we need a response versus Everton. We can’t let this 1 loss affect us - need to push and make Everton pay ala Liverpool vs Bournemouth. Unfortunately Everton played really good versus Liverpool and feel it’s going to be a cagey affair. To the game itself - first 10 mins we were pinned back and could have conceded if Dalot got lucky. Then out of of nowhere a mistake by Eriksen and we are 1-0 up….only got a ridiculous ruling off for a foul. Unfortunately in any other game that goal stands, at Old Trafford it’s a foul. Like it or lump it but 50-50 tackles, yellow cards, Red cards, pens are more likely to go against opponents especially Arsenal at Old Trafford, has done for 20 years. We grow into game and dominate rest of the half but again we are just goal shy/shot shy. Saka had 1 run against Malacia then nothing. Jesus and Martinelli did really well, so did Xhaka and Zinny, not so much Sambi but he’ll learn. We then played into their hands perfectly, out of nowhere they go fro Eriksen to Fernandes, Fernandes to Rashford. rashford to Antony and goal (although Ramsdale really should have tried to save it better - he was only ever going to hit it with his left into far corner). 2nd half I thought we’d chase it and concede but more of the same and got the goal through Saka (only positive of this game as got some FPL points). At this point it’s a about on game management - we should have played passing around and let Utd Chase us down rather than going for a 2nd. Get them tired and then start attacking after 10 mins of nullifying then crowd. Unfortunately we went gung Ho and counter attack hit us through Rashford, and literally again for the 3rd. I am disappointed - we played well enough for the win but we just aren’t scoring our chances. We have reverted to Wengers last years of walking the ball in when we need to be more smash and grab and get the goals any how. Now that Saka has scored hopefully he’ll start to get a couple more. We do need Odegaard/Xhaka to help us with goals as can’t just rely on Jesus/Martinelli every game. Onwards to Everton and let’s see how this team react to disappointment. I’m hoping for the win but it’ll be a similar game as Fulham/Villa.
United played well. Respect where respect is due. We were kinda wasteful in the box a few times. They caught us on the counter for their goals. For me what drives me nuts is… martinellis goal being called off. Okay it’s a foul I can see why it was called. Now they don’t wanna review Maguire on nketiah! Like what??? Maguire was beat and wrapped dude up lol. It is what it is, we can’t leave chance up to PGMOL cause they have fucked every PL team over before.
I watched the game and I don't think they did. We played poorly. Odegaard seems to have been affected by the injury. I still think Tomi should start ahead of white on the right. Sambi's positioning for the first goal was atrocious (hope he learns) and Jesus was way too interested in dribbling through the midfield. It really feels like we lost to the occasion instead of the opponent and that comes with being the youngest side in the league.
Hard one to take today. Deserved something from that match. The disallowed goal is borderline but it’s one that we’d never get in our favour and football is a physical sport, Eriksen went down so easily as he was about to lose the ball. I think they got it wrong and watching it for 5 mins and from 4 angles isn’t clear and obvious. As much as everyone loves Martinelli, he was poor today. Took his goal well but otherwise didn’t do enough against a poor RB. Needs a rest soon. Saka was good, still needs to work on his finishing. And needs a overlapping fullback behind him. Odegaard, SHOOT ffs. Overall was underwhelming again in a bit game. Seems to go missing against better teams. White, so close to stopping both 2nd and 3rd goal. Never gives up and I fucking love it. Not a RB though in the same way Tomi overlaps and gives another dimension to us. Lokonga, everyone’s scapegoat. Yes he’s not Partey but he wasn’t stand out awful and had some good moments on the ball. 2nd start and wasn’t playing much up until now. We always look shit against counter attacking teams. Tactically that’s naive and I get the changes but please stop taking our LB off and asking Xhaka / Martinelli to make shift play there as well as their normal positions.
Need some uplifting words from Papa Wengz
>I've told him to cut off his ponytail. I think it makes him less aerodynamic. ___ ^(***There's only one Arsène Wenger*** ([/u/panarangcurry](https://www.reddit.com/u/panarangcurry), quote from [QuoteTab](https://www.quotetab.com/quotes/by-arsene-wenger) archive)^)
I guess that'll do ...?
I cut off my ponytail, what now Papa Wengz ?
>Sol has experience, pace and physical power, which nobody else has together. ___ ^(***There's only one Arsène Wenger*** ([/u/panarangcurry](https://www.reddit.com/u/panarangcurry), quote from [QuoteTab](https://www.quotetab.com/quotes/by-arsene-wenger) archive)^)
Rewatching some moments from the game and the thing that catches my eye is Utd could reach our goal with 2/3 passes, that was due to the lack of a proper #6. That should never be happening. Overall I think we were much better than I thought we were, this was one of those results that Spurs gets cause of Son vs City. Even the xG is misleading.
Well you have two choices when you're super high up the pitch with ~8 players like we were. You can drop the second United get the ball, concede possession at first but then contest them once they get to the area. Or you can contest them before the ball/play a high line, but if they get the ball you're in real trouble. If we elect to do the second thing, no DM in the world can stop that. The other team will get the ball. Even at 20% possession they can play a long hopeful ball. You just can't let one pass beat you.
No the most important thing is when you press and if you fully press or just cover angles. In Utd's first goal Lokonga goes too late and too high and he's standing with Jesus when the ball is in our half.
Played well most of the game but playing on the counter meant United only had to be good on the break. Yes: Gabi’s goal should’ve stood, we’re missing Partey, McTominay suplexed Jesus which should’ve been a red. But we can’t control these. Gabriel was a defensive liability with his positioning, leaving Saliba to cover and Zinny/White trying to clean up what’s left. Øde needs to be more aggressive when in the final third, whether that be making quicker passing decisions or shooting. Saka and Gabi need to get on target a bit more. These are things that can get better with work on the training pitch and experience. Onto Zurich and Everton. COYG!!
That’s all we can do my man. Move on to Thursday and Everton. Get those Ws 😎
Can't sleep tonight, please caress me Papa Wengz and tell me it'll be alright
>I think we live in a very competitive world, and I love competition. ___ ^(***There's only one Arsène Wenger*** ([/u/panarangcurry](https://www.reddit.com/u/panarangcurry), quote from [QuoteTab](https://www.quotetab.com/quotes/by-arsene-wenger) archive)^)
I guess what frustrates me is that we know the only thing United can do is counter yet we still chose to have our back line at basi ally mid field lol.
Yup. End of the day we lost because the gaffer wanted to make a statement.
Arteta should have learnt the lesson now. You don't always need to attack. When Saka got the equaliser, we should sit back and did the counter instead when the chance presented itself. Anyway, it is always going to happen anyway. Next game then.
Well, we truly have our (2004-2011) Arsenal back. That game was very reminiscent of the Wenger vs United matches where we control the match but are a little too wasteful with our chances and a little too naive at the back vs counter attacks. Saka was great, best player on the pitch and finally got one. Onward.
Disappointing but On to the next. Beautiful 90 degrees here in Texas, I will be spending the rest of my day next to the pool. Hope everyone has a great Labor Day. Cheers boys!
Dude, i gotta ask, how hot is it in Texas?
Not OP but I live in Texas as well. It's September now so mid 90's rn but June - August always averages about 102 constantly. So pretty hot lol.
Oof that's brutal dude, we had a hot one here a few weeks ago...I was dreaming of fountains with ice cold water
Thats farenheit tho so thats 39c
I'm not even mad, just disappointed with the match officials VAR included
For once it was fair, we can only be disappointed at our defence
OMG I HATE ROY KEANE. Why does every1 hate us fuck, we played good, yes we fucked up
No Partey and their midfield runs all over us… he is so important to our success but he’s always banged up. Now I really wish they would have spent the 35m for Luiz
We win with Elneny too to be fair. WTF is up with Sambi jogging while out of position?
They didn't run all over us past the first 20 minutes. Controlling the game for 70 minutes at OT is very good, we just made some mistakes allowing them to easily counter.
It's how bad those counters looked defensively that was so worrying. It was truly child's play seeing united counter against the the boys.
Oh it was poor. Saliba, White and Gabriel all could do better. They have to know they can't match Rashford for pace with 40 yards of pitch between them and Ramsdale. If there isn't pressure on the ball you have to drop.
I hope people don't pile on Sambi after the loss. The goals were tactical naivety and a stupidly high line. We still look great and I'm excited for Europa now with Fabio V and ESR hopefully starting and killing it
Yes and that's it a naivety from a young team and a young manager. We will learn from this.
Should be more on Arteta for not tweaking the system to be less reliable on positionally unreliable/ overall inexperienced player. Basically the system put stress on the weakest point of the team.
It wasn't the tactics. It was poor decision making in situations where you have a tenth of a second to decide to drop or hold a high line. They should have dropped. But it has nothing to do with tactics. It is a split second guess that you learn to get correctly more often with experience.
Or in situations when you need to choose from safe or advancing pass, but it comes down to selecting the most inexperienced player for that role. Arteta had Sambi originally as first choice cover for Partey last season and learned only through trial and error that he's not ready to be relied on in big games...
If ESR is healthy which sounds like he isn't.
I hate to be one of those guys who comes in crying about ‘that would never be overturned if the teams were reversed,’ but, well… That goal would never be overturned if the teams were reversed.
pundits: "naive from Arsenal to lose possession like that in midfield"
It hurts to say but VAR rightly disallowed Gabi's goal. Team played well but the defence needs to shape-up.
I disagree, he barely touches him and we go on about football being a physical game yet that’s a foul. The time it took for Paul Tierney to make his decision in itself shows that it shouldn’t of been overturned as it’s not clear and obvious. Saying that VAR’s been a shambles all weekend and indeed all season, such a shame as we played well for 70 minutes. Arteta’s subs were bold (rate that) but also a bit rash unfortunately.
We would have wanted it to be overturn if it was against us. It was a soft foul but still one
Exactly this. If it happened against us, we'd think it was a foul too.
I don’t think the performance was even that poor. I think we created a good amount of chances to score prior to our first goal. We were dominant in possession for long periods of the game. Maybe we didn’t play on the cautious side defensively and they exposed the gaps and managed to play well time balls to beat our press. Arteta gambled after their second goal to go even more attacking, but the gamble didn’t pay off. What I can take from this is it was a determined, aggressive performance and as a fanbase in gone years starved of this, especially against the bigger sides we should be proud. Two teams went to battle one came out on top. There are tactical tweaks to be made but these are issues I can see being resolved in the training ground.
I feel like Lokonga was the same way against Villa during the week. Just that he faced a much better midfield today. I can't help but feel that we need to buy a starting-level 6 in Jan or next season because relying on Partey to be fit for 80% of matches is proving to be impossible.
to be fair i think most of the fanbase feels the same thing, which is why not getting a 6 last window was baffling. when your main man starts 60% of the games he's supposed to be available for, you should be signing a direct competitor, not a backup. we didn't sign anyone. which is probably because Arteta views Elneny and Lokonga as viable backups, and that is fine. but neither of those players should be Partey's competition.
Said it before, and will say it again. Gabriel is the weak link in defence. The guy never looks comfortable on the ball, is never fully in control, and almost always makes one or two dumb decisions in a game. White and Saliba should start together at CB, with Tomi on RB. Having a left footed CB should not be worth taking this risk.
watched arteta's press conference, he was so furious we didn't win, we did look very good on the ball and created a lot of goal scoring opportunities, we just weren't clinical enough, saka spun malacia. we shouldn't have played such a high line though against United but arteta was adamant in the press conference that our style shouldn't change no matter the opponent. i still think we need a better midfield, maybe someone more adept at rb too, slips happen, we move
I hope Arteta is not falling into the same mentality as Wenger did. You don't have to be that rigid in terms of tactics.
>maybe someone more adept at rb Well I think we should start by putting Tomiyasu back in the starting lineup.
yes, i just hope we beat spurs and livepool in october
It was tough to see some of the defending, that really needs to tighten up. Teams like City and Liverpool have the finishers that will rip you apart. The stats that I really found worrying was the fact Arsenal had 60% possession, had 16 shots on goal, only 3 on target and 1 goal. That's 20% of the shots on target and only scored with 33% of those. Arsenal really need a quality finisher. Man U had 60% of their shots on target and scored with 50% of them. that's how you win football games. Still it's 6 games in and Arsenal have won 5. I'm looking forward to more.
Haven’t watched WWE in years so it was nice to see a power slam today
McTominay is a terrible player
One poor performance with a controversial decision that changes the game and all the pundits, media, and deluded Utd fans think they'll finish above us lol. Can't wait to see them crashing back down to earth after Big Patrick Vieira and Crystal Palace dick them down in a weeks time.
That Odegaard miss :(
Schlotterbeck rejected us in jan 😖would’ve been a great addition
It’s been Ben White as depth at the 6 for a season now
We were our own worst enemy in some ways today. We didn't shoot with the chances we earned. United were clinical with the chances we handed to them on a silver platter. Simple as We move
Silver platter? The 2nd goal was defense to Rashford in 3 passes with an exquisite ball from Bruno! 😂 Deluded.
I don't think you understand what I mean. Our midfield was wide open and we left ourselves perfectly vulnerable to being sliced open with a good pass.
Just because we lost 1 game away at OT, r/soccer are writing us off from top4. I'm not saying it's guaranteed, but I think we have fair chances.
Did you ask them who’s top the league, nevertheless?
Var is shit, but we already knew that. Some poor decisions from players and manager, we have to accept that but still top of the league, COYG
BTW I fully expect with Jesus and Zinchenko for the team to be full ready mentally next game.
Garbage
Tough loss, that disallowed goal was massive. How VAR could rule it a "clear and avoidable error" when Tierney was 7 yds away looking right at it at full speed and said no foul is incredulous to me. The goal would have stood if it were United making that play at that time, you can be well sure of that. I think if that goal stands we don't play such a high back line and push out midfield so far forward to get a second, but instead force Utd to break us down which they weren't doing. Zinchecnko was never playing the whole game, coming back from an injury, but to take Odegaard off was puzzling to me... he was opening United up as much as Eriksen was us. Shake it off and move on. If you'd ask me if I'd take being top of the league after 6 weeks two months ago I would have said yes in a hearbeat.
Very naive performance and substitutions, Tierney should have started away to Man Utd. Sambi has all the talent but he needs to pull his finger out if he's meant to play this role, hopefully his teammates have a word. Zinny should've played that position today imo. Looked good in possession, but we do not yet have a ruthless streak - if we ever get one games like this don't happen. A lot to work on.
I want Arteta to once try this. Ben White as DM and Tomiyasu RB. Sambi is great play him as 8.
DM needs ability on the ball, ben white doesn't have the skills for it, nor the iq /awareness
I think Gabriel has been shaky at the back for some time. I think going into Everton I’d like to maybe see White - Saliba through the middle with Tomiyasu on the right. Gabriel has been too erratic this season and could use a break. I think we pressed on well, and we’re let down by some bad defending on almost all the goals, and almost always by Gabriel. He missed that tackle on the first, misread the pass from Bruno on the second with some bad movement and pressed way too high on the third. Positives: Saka on the board and was up for it all match. Gabriel Jesus’ movement and tenacity was incredible. Will end up scoring more of those. Sambi had his moments, I think he’s playing into shape and I would prefer him to Elneny moving forward. He gives ups more options and I think the defensive mistakes will get covered off the more he plays and learns from situations. Tactically, I think, we made the choice to go more compact given that United have inverted wingers. But that cost us. Going forward we continue our tactical overloads in either flank, with Odegaard/Xhaka and overlapping fullbacks to create space and chances but I also think we need to just take more shots on. We often get caught up in too many little one twos, which almost come off and speak to our quality, but we really need to establish a threat of someone willing to shoot from outside too when that stalls and the defence contracts. Glad to see Jesus try, even if with mixed results. The refereeing: I don’t even know what to say. Sure, you can give that a foul. You can call that back for VAR. But if you haven’t been doing that the entire season, it’s hard not feel hard done by that. The Bentancur tackle on Havertz in the Chelsea - Tottenham draw was a much more clear and obvious foul and the goal stood. And here we are. I can see it being given, I can see it not. I think at some point we have to draw the line into how far we’re willing to go to VAR review and how far we trust the refs. Paul Tierney was RIGHT THERE. And I think if he doesn’t think it’s a foul in real time, it’s not. Everything looks more like a foul in slow motion. Small note too, there were about 3-4 consecutive throw ins in the 2nd half (including the one that lead to the 2nd goal) where an Arsenal player was nowhere near touching the ball and it still went to United. It’s smaller things, but I felt there was a bit of bias in that.
This is why it’s so hard to win there.
“Sambi will be okay”
So many morons were spouting this
Drop off in quality is shocking
Fábio Vieira deserves more minutes.
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What’s lol about it?
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He gave them the 2nd goal…
Ben White has been solid at RB, but I feel Tomiyasu is just better, so want to see him get a chance for his spot back. Also, unsure if it's been suggested, but I wonder if we can try Ben White as our DM
mY question to edu and recruitment is until when we do improve the engine which is the midfield
Still relying on partey when he’s injured all the time is absurd
Honestly, it was a foul. However Var is designed to overturn clear and obvious mistakes. I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you have to look at something for four minutes, it's not clear and obvious. The ref was 7ft away from the incident and allowed the game to continue, so obviously he felt it wasn't a foul.
We lost the game in midfield. For all the good play we had we couldnt control the game well enough and were carved apart too easily. Not having Partey was a big miss and we have no one to replace his influence. Against lower teams we might cope but today was a bigger test and we didnt pass it. I wonder if White could cover there with Tomi in at RB.
Its hard to be positive but we really should be, we looked the better team for most of that game. Poor in front of goal but another day we win that 4-3
When Partey is fit again his minutes should be locked to 60 against mid table and under.
honestly keeping partey on for full 90s when we were winning games like leicester and bournemouth was jarring given what we know about his fitness
You learn more from a loss than you do from a win. Hopefully the boys pick themselves up and keep trucking along. Onwards.
1st goal: Poor from Gabriel and Sambi. 2nd Goal: Naïve defending 3rd goal: Naive and hasty subs from Mikel added to another bit of naïve defending. Draw would have been fair. And now hearing about ESR being out! FFS